APOLLO BOROUGH COUNCIL rJIEMBERS H. Keith Owens, President W. L. Owens, Secretary hrvy .M. Tarball Everett A. Beck Earl F. Eliss Robert Jackson Walter D. Smith S. N. George, Treasurer C. Doyle Steele, Burgess hlph C . John, Solicitor APOLLO BOROUGH PLANNING COINISSION Cecil L. Shaeffer, Chairman Thomas F. Shaffer H, 0. Coleman K. E. Gallagher J. Farrell Bash r for R-; Apollo, Pennsylvania c il I I B I I Developed for I 'L the Citizens of Apollo I t I a 1 with the assistance of the J ARHSTilONS COUM'TY 1 PLANNING AND ZOIJINC- COI%ISSION i I I June 1961 I 1' I I I I 1 I I CONTENTS I II pa ge I Introeaction .............................. i The ?lr.;rsical Setting .......................... 1 I IIistorical Davelopment ........................ 17 Existing Land Use. .......................... 27 Fv.hre Lend Use. ........................... 30 Tne Apollo Plan. ............................36 ,nLecreation.. ............................ 35 Fublic Lqprovements Program. ..................... bz A 7.:LCO Ir, Greek qythology 1 was one cl” the ixost important and maw-sided of the Olympian divinities. According to the legend Apollo was the son of Zeus and Leto. Apollo was born on the seventh day of the month, 32s day and the 20+uh, the days of the new and full moon, were ever afterwards held sacred to him. In Homer Apollo appears only as the god of prophecy the sender of plagues and sometimes as a warrior. Elsewhere he is the god of agriculture and vegetation. He is also the protector of cattle and herds an6 is spoken of as keeper of the flocks. He was the first winner of the Olympic games. Apollo was a healing god that could prevent disease and misfortune and after the Fifth Century B.C. he was considered by the Roma!~s as the god of light and heaven. Usual attributes of Apollo are the lyre, the bow, and tine tripod; +,;le wolf, the roe, the swan, the hawk, the raven, the crow, the snake, the mouse, the grasshopper, and the griffin were sacred to him. Baj piant (laurel >reath ) making the crown of victory was sacred to him and the Sun was a symbol of the god of light. Tr.3 youthful head of Apollo, the laurel wreath, and the sun appear on the COBCI’. LIST OF ILWSTRATIONS Page Illustratior. 1 - Location Mq .................... iiia Chart I - Apollo Population ..................... 8 Figme 1 - Compariscn of Trends ................... 98 TmnofWarren. ........................... lla Tllustration 2 - Historical Map ................... 13.1 Xajc.z- Historical E-rents ....................... 16 Illustration -? - Commercial Land. .................. l& Illustration 4 - Ixlustrial Land. .................. 22a X3iatraticn 5 - Resiclential Land .................. ?):a IXustxztion 6 - Vacagt Land. .................... 2% XLust:*ation 7 - Generalized Land Use "Greater Apollo Area" ..... 223 I IUxctration 8 - Recommended Zoning Districts ............ 313. Esistj.iig iand Use - Business District ................ 34% Zedevelcpmen-b Plan Business District. ............... 34b y-.-Lgurs : 2 - Trxffic Counts ...................... 357; Xllustration 9 - Major Road and Topographic Nap ........... 3% Illusti-stion 10 - Cartway Widths. .................. 35b ILhstration ll - Land Use. ..................... 4;z 'dater Lines ............................. LLb .?ewerfines.. ........................... 44~ Introduction The General Plan for Apcllo represents considerable effort by local citizens who are thinking about their community. Primary responsibility for the Plzcn rests with the Apollo Borough Planning and Zoning Commission and Apollo Borca& Council, but many of the ideas have come from other sources. A ground swell of interest has occurred over the past year in ApoUo causing nruch discussion by people from all walks of life-housewives, businessmen, laborers, ministers, etc.-out of which directions or goals for the cmmunity have developed. Both fomal and informal meetings of citizens and elected officials have offered opportunities for suggestions and criti- cisms, thus providing a good cross-section of opinion. The intent of a general plan for any community is to articulate the goals of a community so that once established, both public and private action will be directed toward the accomplishment of them. In essence, then, the general plan is a fairly simple idea because it is nothing more than the examination of various aspects of the community and then listing I1 i decisions about what needs to be done and the order of accomplishment. Some of the elements usually included as planning studies are absent from this report. Three of these are notable-population analysis, an examination of the economic base, and a financial analysis of the Borough. The first two are most important in determining the prospective growth of the area. It is a well established fact that population growth is reflected through the presence of job opportunities so that a thorough knowledge of economic prospects is necessary for definitive planning. Horqever, economic analysis is no simple miter. For two reasons no attempt was rpade at economic forecasting. First, an exha?istive studj. is now underway for the six-county Pittsburgh region which includes Armstrong County. Regional economists of the highest E~ calibre are examining all pertinent data about the region in an effort to undersbnd its prospects for fnture development and without any doubt, 8 Apollo's fubm hinges on the future of the rest of the region. When such 1 a study is being conducted, it would be presumptuous to anticipate its findings with local sources of infomation which are not as thorough. I Secondly, the best source of information on both population and economic characteristics of the conmnity is the Bureau of Census, but the P results of the 1960 census have not yet been released. When they are I released, a supplementary report should be prepared showing the current characteristics of population including family size, income, ages, composi- I tion of labor force, etc. But projections to the future should be hedged 1 carefully against the six-county st;luy under the direction of the Pittsburgh Regional Planning Association, the results of which will be published in I 1962. 1 (Both economic and population forecasting should be based upon a larger area than lip0110 alone. Bechuse of the mobility of the labor force I in using automobiles to reach work, the increase or decline of job opportu- nities affects a fairly large area. A twenbj-five mile radius from Apollo 1 would be considered a minimum regional size affecting the job market of I Apollo residents. Although some efforts may be made to analyze the economy of the Kiskiminetas Valley, it may prove too small a unit for analysis and 1 certainly analysis of Apollo alone inJ0d.d be of doubtful value,) I I I ii I 1 'I As for preparation of a financial analysis so that public planning 1 can take form through planned expenditures on the most sound economic basis, the Pennsylvania Econorqy League has been requested to aid in the 1 establishment of the best financial program. This part of Apollo planning i is of particular interest to both public officials and private citizens and therefore justifies the expert attention of this group which offers 1 advice and technical help at no cost to the local government. The adoption of a financial plan and the willingness to live within a budget will be the I means of carrying out the goals of this general plan. I Finally, it shoulc! be said t'fizt the writing or composition of this report is an attempt to synthesize the attitudes that have been expressed I in public meetings and private conversations. It is an effort to reflect forthrightly and in plain language what people in Apollo think, believe, I and wish. If the choice of words is offensive, an apology is due because i this should be the community's plan and not an outsider's. 1 1 I I 1 I I iii 1 LOCATION MAP 1 I The Physical Setting 1 Apollo Borough is located on the right bank of the Kiskiminetas e River about twelve miles below the confluence of the Conemaugh River and Loyalhanna Creek at Saltsburg. It is about thirteen miles above the mouth I of the Kiskiminetas River located at Schenley on the Allegheny River. Approximately midway between Kittanning to the north and Greensburg to the 1 south, Apollo is thirty miles nwtheast of Pittsburgh in the heart of a I region originally developed because of its coal an6 iron deposits. The Kiskiminetas River, one cf the shortest in the world in that it I is only twenty-five miles long, lies in a deep gorge which has cut through the generally level strata of the area. Banks on either side of the flood 1 plain rise to heights of two to four hundred feet above the river eqosing I various strata of the Pennsylvanian deposits which cover most of the valley region. I Most predominant in the area are the Conemaugh formation consisting of cyclic sequences of red and gray shales and siltstones with thin lime- I stones and coals, and the Allegheny group consisting of cyclic sequences of I sandstone, shale, limestone, and mmerous commercial coals. The strata I'ise to the northeast about one hundred feet per mile giving tne appearame 1 of being level and undistrubed by folding or other geologic upheaval. The Kiskiminetas Fiver Vslley itself presents a succession of steep slopes E Sroken by frequent lateral ravines. The slopes are from 300 to 400 feet in 1 heig5t and support a smooth rolling upland which rises about one hundred feet still higher above the water line. On this plateau is some excellent 1 farmkg country sitczted at an elevation of from 1100 to feet above 1300 1 I c I sea level. I Wnere the rF-Jer is crossed by anticlinals the valley narrows into a gorge; where it is crossed by synclinals it widens and expands, the hills 6 on both sides retiring k5th more ~syslopes toward the uplands.